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Floor Remarks by Senator
Robert C. Jubelirer (R-30)
on Property Tax Relief Package
No matter how unpredictable politics has become,
there are still constants in our world. I have been in the Senate for
thirty-one years, and the problem with property taxes has been a hot-button
issue in every one of them.
The hardest question many of us are asked is
this: "Why cannot there be an agreement reached on doing something about
property taxes? It has been studied to death, there have been so many proposals
wither or crash we have lost track, and every year that goes by sees our taxes
going up and up." People long ago lost interest in selectively assigning blame
-- they have decided we are all at fault until there is a solution available
everywhere.
While there will always be differences over
which is the best approach, we cannot make progress on the actual reduction of
property taxes if we never begin. By voting this package today, we make a
strong beginning toward ending the deadlock of endless debate and circumventing
the considerable customary obstacles to property tax relief.
Previous plans were often dismissed by opponents
as not working. It was always fascinating how it was determined something did
not work, when so few were actually trying it. One of the virtues of this
measure is, if it becomes law, nearly everyone will have a chance to try it.
As the special session got underway, there were
a fair number of well-designed plans and well-intended approaches offered by
members of this Senate. Senator Brightbill and Senator Mellow, as the
respective floor leaders, did a solid job of distilling the most practical
aspects of various plans into something that comes as close to consensus as we
achieve on this difficult and traditionally divisive issue.
This effort, more than any other, enjoyed
impetus from different regions of the state. Republicans in the southeast, led
by Senator Erickson, put big issues in play. The same can be said of Senators
on both sides from the southwest.
The measure we are set to approve today reflects
serious bipartisan negotiation, it profits from the lessons drawn from the
experience of Act 50 and Act 72, and it is true to important taxpayer
principles.
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The taxpayers get a clear
say in decision-making.
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The key choices are local
ones, putting the decisions on a district-by-district basis, avoiding a
state-dictated straitjacket, and allowing local circumstances to be
accommodated.
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There is recognition of
the need for spending control and an effective checkrein on future property
tax hikes, in the form of the backend referendum.
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Recalcitrant school
boards cannot checkmate the public interest and the public will this time,
in the manner in which they did in Act 72.
This approach offers a certain timeline,
relative simplicity in the choices, broad participation, and the ability for
families to reasonably calculate how it benefits them.
On the other hand, this plan will be a major
disappointment to school boards, because it does not in any way hand over new
revenues without restriction or limitation.
Those who would attempt to write this off as a
rehash would shortchange key additions such as a substantial expansion of the
property tax and rent rebates for seniors.
A property tax reduction plan can look
absolutely brilliant on paper, but if it cannot attract enough support to become
law, it is no better than something sketched on a cocktail napkin. Building
consensus on property taxes has always meant paring it down to core principles
that legislators and taxpayers from different parts of the state can embrace.
Raising or expanding state taxes to pay for
local tax relief is by definition complex, confusing, and politically perilous.
So this approach concentrates on local alternatives to property taxes. There
are no fiscal landmines buried in here, and no yawning deficits down the road.
This is built on what can be delivered.
Any plan can be tinkered with or improved upon.
But it is hard to improve upon a bipartisan vote that gets the job done.
If the House and the Governor truly want
property tax relief to start soon, this is a respectable, reasonable, and
responsible package for achieving a pro-taxpayer result, and for redeeming the
promises we have made so often to taxpayers.
 
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